get notarized translation of your (non-Russian) passport;
get SNILS (social security number) at the Pension fund office (or at MFC=Multi-functional Center=МФЦ, Мои документы). At this point you also have to have an (easily accessible) email address that would be used for registration purposes, this should NOT be a Gmail account;
This new law is strictly for foreigners and yet the website is only in Russian? And when using google translate to translate the website, it won’t load.
If youve been through this, any chance you could provide more details? For example where to get your passport translated and notarized?
At this point, needing a Russian number to get a Tinkoff card, it might be too much work to go through for a SIM card for only being here a couple months.
So no credit card and no data on my phone. Is it possible to survive without those two things? All my hotels and flights are already purchased.
@NomadicHedgie Yeah, I have the same document from Megafon. I’ll wait to hear more. I dont mind doing the work but so far every website they provide is Russian language only. I can only imagine each office visit will be a challenge for non-Russian speakers as well.
I just arrived in Kaliningrad so I’m actively trying to do this as we speak.
I haven’t heard about a new law. Can tourists still get a sim card or esim at the airport or at a Megafon/MTS office or is there now a lot more red tape involved?
No, the new law requires any foreigner to go through the specific steps to have the SIM card activated. There is no shortcut. In March, those foreigners who already have a working SIM will lose activation and will then need to go through the steps as well.
@KO11 When did this law go into effect? I’m not reading much about it elsewhere. Of course there isn’t much online generally about travel to Russia these days
@KO11 What makes sense here is just have a rule that this doesn’t apply to tourists who have been in Russia less than 30 days, or implement some kind of short term “tourist” sim card that automatically expires after 30 days if you don’t do the SNILS/biometric process. But they don’t ask me to set policy
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@KO11 Why do you think the process will be impossible?
I spoke to one Russian friend, Yulia, and plan to discuss it with more. But the process seems manageable. There is a notary, an MFC, and an MTS store within a short walk of my Moscow apartment. So, on my first day in Moscow, I could visit all three to complete the process. Yulia said the MFCs are usually fast and perhaps I will be able to do much of this at the MTS store. I can email the notary before I arrive to arrange the translation.
But I will know more once my expat friends who are already in Russia complete the process.
@NomadicHedgie Someone who did a YouTube video about it says his friend just arrived in Sochi and did it all in one day. It does seem like the MFC is the main extra step here, though there is also some confusion about whether a trip to the bank is required to do biometrics before you get the SIM card (and then go to the bank to open a bank account, if that is your plan).
I did find two translation services online who seem to offer notarized translations of passports done remotely by email. You email a scan of passport, pay by PayPal, they send notarized translation. Others won’t do this or require physical verification of passport as a final step.
@NomadicHedgie Sure. I’m reluctant to post actual links because I don’t know what’s allowed or flagged as spam. The YT channel is “American in Crimea” and the video is from January 11 titled “Russian Laws for Foreigners in 2025 | Live Q&A Session.”
The SIM card discussion starts at 15:08 and the vlogger mentions in a comment that someone did it in a day in Sochi. Go to the channel and click “Live” not “videos” and you should see it.
For notarized passport translations, I bookmarked spbtranslations dot com and gowinwin dot ru as companies that advertise the ability to do the process online.
@KO11 Definitely not 2 weeks, but maybe 25 hours effort The process is:
Make a notarized translation of your passport (needed also for a bank account)
Get your SNILS in an MFC. Better check which MFC can do it and make an appointment. Email addresses and phone numbers for each region can be found in yandex.
Connect your Gosuslugi account with your SNILS in the MFC (I managed to do both in the same appointment)
Go to Sbers bank for the biometrics, which will also be connected to your Gosuslugi account.
Wait one day, then you can buy the SIM card.
Connect your SIM card with your Gosuslugi account (I haven’t done it yet, but I guess a visit to an MFC is necessary. It’s not needed for using the SIM).
I had no issues using a gmail account. Also no issues with the IMEI.
Without roaming things might be more difficult, since you need a data connection for almost each step.
The process is: